Endless Knight(32)

Whenever I was freaked out more than usual, he would tease me. Yesterday he’d trailed behind me for long moments. “I meant what I said about you not being human.”


Just when I was about to flare, he’d said, “Evie, that ass of yours—um, um, UM! C’est surhumain.” It’s superhuman.

On the other side of the stream, he set me on my feet, but lingered with his arms around me, resting his chin on my head. “We’re goan to find us a place to hole up, then pick up where we left off.” His voice was husky, sending shivers all over me.

Even amidst so much hardship and fear, I found myself imagining what would’ve happened if the cabin hadn’t been a trap.

Good money said I’d no longer be a virgin. “Jack, I don’t know h-how many more miles I have in me.”


“Just a couple more rises. Then we’ll stop for an hour or two.”


“O-okay.” We pressed on. . . .

The Arcana calls were always abuzz, but a pair had grown louder, even with Jack’s presence.

—Red of tooth and claw!—


—We go now to our bloody business.—


We were used to Fauna’s, but I didn’t know who the second one belonged to. Neither did Selena. We only knew he was male. Somewhere in these forsaken mountains was a boy who might crave our deaths. Could it be the Hierophant?

I’d asked Matthew. His answer: “The water!”


I’d been hearing Death as well, feeling his presence as he spoke directly to me. Once he’d whispered about Jack: —The mortal boy will never understand you. But then, that could be because you’re soon to die.—


Shut up! I’m sick of you!

He’d just laughed.

If Matthew had sent me those dreams of Death to teach me more about him and the game, then I knew I needed to study every detail. In that long-ago contest, other players had been close by the canyon. I recalled that Fauna had controlled lions then, but it was still unclear whether she’d been my ally or my foe. Had Judgment been gloating over my looming demise, circling like a buzzard? Or had he been preparing to attack Death from above—


A coughing fit overtook me. My breaths were heaving so hard, I’d inhaled rain.

Over the pounding shower, Jack told the others, “We need to take a break!”


Despite my dread of cannibals, by this point I thought I’d almost rather make a stand than keep running. I couldn’t release poisonous spores in this kind of weather, but a tornado of thorns could do some damage. If I could manage one. “We can’t run anymore.”


“Figures you’d say that since you’re so shitty at it!” Selena snapped.

Suddenly, Finn, Selena, Matt, and I fell silent, freezing in place. An Arcana call began boiling up in our minds. I slapped my hands over my ears, as if that would help. Then a booming: —RED OF TOOTH AND CLAW!—


Jack raised his bow and yanked me behind him. “What’s goan on here?” His gaze darted. I grabbed Matthew, dragging him close.

“Fauna. She’s coming,” I answered. Would she fight us? She had to be alone—so why would she approach an alliance of four Arcana?

Just as Selena flanked me, raising her own bow, a pretty girl appeared, seeming to materialize from the rain.

She looked Eurasian, with doe-brown eyes that swept up at the corners. A baggy conductor’s hat covered her black hair, and she wore a camouflage coat. Freckles dotted her pale skin. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen.

Though she sported no visible weapons, a huge hawk perched on one shoulder—and three enormous black wolves surrounded her protectively, baring their fangs.

Pet wolves in the movies were always majestic; these were the ugliest I’d ever imagined, with patches of fur missing and scars all over. Raised lines crisscrossed their snouts. One was missing an eye. Another limped.

“State your business,” Jack ordered, pointing his crossbow.

Her tableau flashed over her, a girl controlling the gaping mouth of a lion. Then the image was gone.

Finn stared at her, his lips parted. All of his recent illusions began to waver over him in a rush, as if from an involuntary response to the girl. He went invisible—twice—as he mumbled to her, “We b-both have infinity symbols on our cards.”


She frowned at him, then said to the group, “I’m Lark. And we’re in trouble.”


12


“Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?” Selena demanded with her bow aimed at the girl’s face. “Why should we trust anything you have to say?”


“Because I’ve come here as an ally,” she said. “And to prove myself, I’m about to save your asses.”


Selena gave a laugh and drew back farther on her bowstring.

Finn and I gaped at the Archer. “Let her talk!” he said.

“She’s been following us for days? And now all of a sudden she’s here to help?”


Lark nodded. “Yeah. I had to make sure you weren’t psycho like other Arcana I’ve seen. Besides, you haven’t needed my help before.”


“But we do now?” Selena scoffed.

“You’ve got a horde of Baggers to the north and gaining fast.”